Questions & Answers about המשי עדין יותר מהפשתן.
Why is there no word for is in this sentence?
In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense. So המשי עדין יותר מהפשתן literally looks like the silk more delicate than the linen, but it means The silk is more delicate than linen.
If you move to the past or future, Hebrew does use a form of to be:
- המשי היה עדין יותר מהפשתן = The silk was more delicate than the linen
- המשי יהיה עדין יותר מהפשתן = The silk will be more delicate than the linen
How does Hebrew say more ... than ... here?
The comparison is built with יותר = more and מ־ = than.
So the pattern is:
- עדין יותר = more delicate
- מהפשתן = than the linen
A useful model is:
X + adjective + יותר + מ־Y
as in:
- המשי עדין יותר מהפשתן
What exactly is מהפשתן?